Florida Man Sentenced To Three Years In Prison For Participating In Fraud And Money Laundering Scheme Targeting Hedge Fund

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MUSTAPHA RAJI was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman to three years in prison for his participation in a $1.7 million business email compromise and money laundering scheme that targeted a Manhattan hedge fund.

RAJI was previously convicted after a one-week jury trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, receipt of stolen property, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Today’s sentencing of Mustapha Raji should send a clear message that email scams targeting businesses in this District will not be tolerated. Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to zealously prosecute online scammers abroad, and the U.S.-based money launderers they work with, to protect American businesses.”

As reflected in the Indictment, public filings, and the evidence presented at trial: RAJI participated in an international fraud ring that conducted phishing and other email fraud campaigns.

In April 2017, a company RAJI controlled received over $100,000 in two transfers from another corporate entity, which had itself just received nearly $2 million in stolen money from a public university in Oregon. The university had been conned into sending the payment to an account controlled by one of RAJI’s co-conspirators instead of the bank account of the legitimate vendor it intended to pay.

In July 2018, RAJI was involved in the compromise of the business email account of a hedge fund founder in New York. That compromise resulted in the fraudulent diversion of a $1.7 million wire transfer from the hedge fund to a corporate bank account used to facilitate the scheme. RAJI was a registered officer of the company that received the stolen funds, he fabricated documents to cover up the fraudulent transfer of funds from the hedge fund, and he directed a co-conspirator to launder the stolen funds to other co-conspirators domestically and overseas.

RAJI took a $50,000 cut for his participation in the scheme.

Similarly, in May 2018, a hospital system in Missouri fell victim to a business email compromise scheme. As part of that scheme, unauthorized emails were sent from the email account for the hospital’s chief financial officer that purported to direct payments to be issued for false invoices issued by RAJI’s company, causing over $250,000 to be sent directly by the victim to a bank account RAJI controlled.

In September 2018, RAJI learned that a co-conspirator with whom he had worked closely in the scheme had been arrested. Nonetheless, when a cooperating witness approached RAJI in 2019 about a new fraud — a supposed insider job to steal $2.3 million — RAJI agreed to participate and sent the cooperating witness wire instructions for an account to receive the stolen money.

In addition to his prison term, RAJI, 53, of Hollywood, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $711,557.54 and forfeit the same amount.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine Ghosh, Jilan Kamal, Dina McLeod, and Robert B. Sobelman are in charge of the prosecution.

PG

The Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Gawuna, winner of the March 18 governorship poll.

Reading of the judgment was transmitted virtually via Zoom, a teleconference service as the panel members were not physically in court.

The ruling came weeks after lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on 21 August.

Recall the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat the APC with its candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes. The NNPP candidate thus won with a margin of 128,897 votes.

However, the APC filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge the results declared by the electoral body.

Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the NNPP was declared winner of the election by the INEC.

After the declaration by INEC, Gawauna congratulated Yusuf, but the All Progressives Congress headed to court to challenge the victory.

The three-man panel, on Wednesday, ordered the withdrawal of certificate of return which INEC presented to Yusuf, and directed a certificate of return to be issued to Gawuna.

The court deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf as invalid, stating that the ballot papers (165,663) were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.

Vanguard

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has warned the world leaders of the looming danger he described as a “Great Fracture” saying the globe is “becoming unhinged” over economic, financial, and trade affairs.

Guterres said this while delivering his speech at the ongoing 78th UN General Assembly in New York, US, on Tuesday.

He also called on them for sweeping changes to multilateral institutions, including reforming the powerful Security Council at the heart of the UN and redesigning global financial systems.

“The alternative to reform is not the status quo. The alternative to reform is further fragmentation. It’s reform or rupture,” Guterres said.

He warned global governance was “stuck in time” at a point when strong modern multilateral institutions are in greater need than ever before.

Reflecting on a year in which the UN has appeared incapacitated by the divisions over the war in Ukraine., Guterres put those divisions in a broader context saying: “We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don’t reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem.

He said, “Divides were deepening among economic and military powers, and between North and South, East and West”.

Returning to a theme that has appeared in many of his speeches for three or more years he said:

“We are inching ever closer to a Great Fracture in economic and financial systems and trade relations; one that threatens a single, open internet; with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence; and potentially clashing security frameworks.

Speaking on the world’s response to climate change, he said it was still falling “abysmally short.”

Among other things he spoke about, the UN chief said, “If every country fulfilled its obligations under the UN Charter, the right to peace would be guaranteed. When countries break those pledges, they create a world of insecurity for everyone. Exhibit A: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The war, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, has unleashed a nexus of horror: lives destroyed; human rights abused; families torn apart; children traumatized; hopes and dreams shattered. 

“Beyond Ukraine, the war has serious implications for us all. Nuclear threats put us all at risk. Ignoring global treaties and conventions makes us all less safe. And the poisoning of global diplomacy obstructs progress across the board.”

Vanguard